Film: Loose Cannons
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 18th April 2011
Distributor: Peccadillo
Certificate: 15
Running time: 110 mins
Director: Ferzan Ozpetek
Starring: Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Nicole Grimaudo, Ennio Fantastichini, Lunetta Savino
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Italy
Language: Italian
In Ferzan Ozpetek's latest comedy, gay brothers attempt to come out to their rich conservative family at the centre of a circle of secrets. In a light-hearted look at people's conflict between preserving an image and being true to themselves, Loose Cannons is full of just that - a colourful array of Loose Cannons all craving their own, small rebellions. This return to the genre that made Ozpetek's international name was nominated for the Audience Award at the European Film Awards in 2010, and has received mixed reactions from critics.
Vincenzo Cantone (Ennio Fantastichini) is the head of a conservative Italian household in Puglia, and is the owner of a pasta firm that he inherited from his father and uncle. He knows that he must soon sign the company over to his two sons - Antonio (Alessandro Preziosi), his eldest, who has been running it with him for years, and his younger son Tommaso (Riccardo Scamarcio), who's been absent in Rome. What he doesn't know is that Tommaso doesn't want to run the company - he wants to be a novelist. On top of that, he's also gay, and confides in his brother that he intends to come out to his parents, get disowned, and be free of family burden. What Tommaso doesn't know is that his brother is also gay, and just when he's about to come out over dinner, Antonio beats him to it. Their father has a heart attack, Antonio gets disowned instead, and Tommaso is stuck dealing with the chaos left behind…
Loose Cannons is an easy-going comedy that, like all family based comedies, deals with some big issues whilst never taxing its audience. The brothers at the centre are just one example of people's need to live differently, reflecting the conflicts of the other characters around them. The film opens and closes with another plot, that of Tommaso's grandmother, Crescenza Guarnieri (Ilaria Occhini). Crescenza is a free spirit whose never-the-less lived her life the way others have said she must. We're introduced to her back-story with a lusciously coloured and shot scene of her younger self crying in a wedding dress and attempting to commit suicide, before she is stopped by a young man. As the film continues, we learn through a series of flashbacks that this was her husband's brother, who she was in love with. This sacrifice and compromise underlines those of the other characters as she tries to warn them against making her mistake.
The tone of Loose Cannons changes frequently between the serious, touching and humorous. Scenes such as Crescenza's are filmed and scored like a dramatic Western or historic romance, whereas the modern day uses the bright pallet of a comedy. Both past and present, however, are shot against the golden locations of historical Italian buildings - the heritage that links them together. Visually, this film is beautiful. The score changes with the pallet, abandoning its dramatic feel for stereotypical European comedy - it's like Yann Tiersen hyped up on candy. This bouncy, overtly European music well suits the importance of Italian tradition to the Cantone family, as well as reflecting the ridiculous circumstances.
The cast bring a varied and colourful array of characters to the screen. Most of them are more like caricatures than real people, but their exaggerations are entertaining. The most notable of these oddities is the alcoholic aunt, drawing attention to herself with vivid blue clothing and loud red hair. Every night, she waits in her negligee for the local burglar to break through her window in a very paperback-romance fashion. Amongst this cartoonish family, the two sons (both breathtaking, incidentally - valuable additions to the fictional Italian gay community!) and the mother act their roles very seriously, bringing a gravity to the narrative. However, in a movie focusing on family relationships, having some members permanently serious whilst others are permanently ridiculous makes the dynamics hard to engage with, especially as the father/son relationships are so crucial to this plot - having the father constantly over the top, whilst the mother and sons are sombre, seems a strange directorial decision.
This juxtaposition of tones makes the film hard to interpret, at times. Another key reason for this confusion is the style of comedy. The colours, music and cartoonish characters make us expect big laughs. However, there are few actual laugh-out-loud moments. Granted, there are many amusing scenes that will make an audience smile, but none of it is overly original or side-splitting. In fact, the plot and jokes often feel flat. Most of the humour is derived from dramatic irony; that "oh no!" as we watch Tommaso stand and listen to his family insist that homosexuals are easy to spot, or that he's all they have left. As irony goes, it's pretty major, though we cringe and feel sorry for Tommaso rather than being tickled pink. This sort of humour makes sense for Tommaso and the other serious characters, but doesn't gel with the ridiculous half. Another strange example is a scene where the father sits with baby photos of Antonio, weeping ridiculously over his loss. It may be over the top, but even so, it reflects an upsetting truth, which makes it hard to laugh at. Everything feels slightly disconnected, as though from several different films. Several different films that are all using variations of the "they don't know Tommaso is gay" joke as their one punch line.
Suddenly, as if self conscious that there wasn't enough laughter taking place, Tommaso's gay friends from Rome show up. The humour instantly becomes outright campy - the friends have to pretend they're straight, and end up bitching at each other about who's acting the gayest. Again, the joke is “people don't know they're gay,” but the parents making ironic comments is swapped for the friends saying camp things, realising, gasping and covering their mouth. This isn't to say they're not entertaining - they're very entertaining – but, once again, they're such an abrupt tone change. The Campiest Moment Prize has to go to the friends doing a dance routine in the ocean in all their swimwear glory. If it didn't feel so randomly stuck in, or we got to know the characters better, it'd be brilliant fun, but as it is, it feels a little like pimping their orientation out for laughs, which detracts from the previous reflections on how people view homosexuals. Mostly, their presence on screen is a delight, but the ocean scene verges on tacky.
Another confusing element in this film is Alba Brunetti (the beautiful Nicole Grimaudo). Alba is the only character to proudly flaunt her differences; the outcast who scratches people's cars, carries various changes of shoes, and can't get close to people. She arrives in a bright red car and undertakes the first acts of rebellion on screen, possibly inspiring Tommaso to carry out his plan. Her presence therefore feels as though it should be central and important, but in the end is a little puzzling. She's clearly meant to be quirky and intriguing, a little dangerous even, but her ‘quirks’ are somewhat forced and rather uninteresting. She speaks of herself as if she's a lost child, yet we've all met much stranger people than her in our lives.
What she does contribute is to present Tommaso with a conflict. Early on, she makes her interest in him clear, and as he receives pressure from the rest of his family, he must decide - does he return to his boyfriend, or conform and go with her? Frustratingly, there is a lack of any truly clear resolution to this problem. After watching the pair tensely eat a sandwich for what felt like an eternity, it'd be nice to see Tommaso pick one or the other of his love interests with more fire and certainty, instead of leaving them dancing together and walking away. The tension of the conflict is successfully built up throughout the film, but lingering shots on all parties leaves it feeling open ended long past the point where it felt like a decision had been made. This leaves the audience stuck on their toes. Overall, it seems as if this plot thread should be adding more to the film then it does.
Loose Cannons has a talented cast, looks incredible, and has some very funny moments. Like a Greek tragedy, it loves irony, the biggest irony of all being that a traditional Italian family is worrying over an issue that used to be of little concern to their ancestors (as we're reminded whilst the sons wrestle out their differences amongst Roman ruins). It makes for fun, easy viewing, but would benefit from editing to give it more consistent pace and a more continuous feeling. As it is, it has varying quality - independent moments all have a lot of merit, but do not fit together the way they should have. AIB
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